Safety appliance for railway-car trucks



C. L. PITTMAN. SAFETY APPLIANCE FOR RAILWAY CAR TRUCKS.

APPLICATION FILED DEC.28. I921.

Patented Aug. 15, 1922;

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Wk "u C. L. PITTMAN. SAFETY APPLIANCE FOR RAILWAY CAR TRUCKS.

APPLICATION FILED DEC.28- I921.

' Patentedl Aug. 15, 1922'.

4 SHEETSSHEET Z.

C. L. PITTMAN SAFETY APPLIANCE FOR RAILWAY CAR TRUCKS. APPLICATION FILED DEC.28. 1921. 1,426,096. Pat nted Aug. 15, 1922'.

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I {012' 16 12 if C. L. PITTMAN. SAFETY APPLIANCE FOR RAILWAY CAR TRUCKS.

APPLICATION FILED DEC.28. I921.

Patented Aug. 15, 1922.

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UNITED STATES I PATENT omen.

cAar. L. PITTMAN, or on neon, TEXAS, ssrenon 'ro' THE PITTMAN COMPANY, or DE LEON, TEXAS, A 'rnusr ESTATE consrs'rme or J. B. POOL, c. L. PITTMAN, AND

R. F. B. LOGAN.

' lSAFETY APPLIANCE FOR RAILWAY-CAR TRUCKS,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed December as, 1921. Serial no; 525,390.

for railway car trucks and has for its object to provide each side frame of a standard type truck with a safety skid or shoe formed as a downward and lateral extension of the side frame, so as to overlie the track and extend between the wheels of the truck, which latter are embraced by the bifurcated ends of the skid, so that, in the event of the derailment of any wheel or wheels,

the truck will be supported on the rail or rails by'the skid members of the side frames. The skid members are preferably formed as integral portions of the side frames, thereb adding materially to the strength and rigi ity of the side frames, without in any way detracting from the flexibility of the truck as, a whole.

The invention further provides, in association with the skid or shoe members of the truck, means for applying the air brakes whenever a wheel leaves the track or any wheel or axle is damaged to a sufficient extent to permit the journal box or boxes to move downwardly relatively to the truck, the means to this end comprising levers pivoted intermediate their ends to the truck frame so that one end of each lever underlies an adjacent journal box while the oppo site end is interlocked with a vertically pivotal and slidable member supported on the side frame, which in turn cooperates with a cranked portion of a horizontal rod journaled on the side frame and is provided with a finger which actuates an air relief valve, in

a branch from the air brake line, to set the brakes when any one of the journal boxes moves downward in its housing to sufficient extent to cause the cooperating lever to actuate the associated pivoted sliding member. The several parts are so constructed and arranged as to permit the ready assemblage and adjustment of the ap-paratuswithout the use of special tools, and tov permit the dismantling and assembling of the, truck without t he use of bolts or similar connecting devices. 7 The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig l is a side elevation of the truck em bodying a typical construction of the safety appliances;

Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section of the truck;

Fig. 3 is a plan view thereof;

Fig. 4 is an end elevation;

Fig. 5, is a vertical section on line 5 of Fig. l;

Fig. 6 is a similar section on line 6-6 of Fig.1;

ig; 7 is a fragmentary perspective'po'rtion of the truck showing the air valve actuating mechanism;

Fig. 8 is a horizontal section on line 8-8 of Fig 1;

Fig. 9 is a vertical section on line 9-9 of Fig. 2, and

Fig. 10 frame and the associated skid or shoe.

Referring to the drawings, 1-1 indicate the side frames of the truck, preferably formed as unitarycastings and provided A with seats or housings 22-at each end to receive the journal boxes and having the usual bolster guides and seats intermediate its length, the guides defining an opening 3 Patented Aug. 15, 1922.

is a perspective .view of one side' enlarged at its bottom to permit the insertion and proper positioning of the upper bolster 5 and the lower bolster 7, between which are interposed the usual springs 6. The upper bolster 5 is provided with spaced vertical flanges 5 which embrace the edges of the' bolster guide and serve to lock the bolster and side frames together, while the lower bolster 7, which is designed to replace the ordinary 'sprin plank, is provided with a bottom recess which cooperates with a rounded seat 4 which provides a rocking connection between the said bolster 7 and the side frames to allow a reasonable amount of flexibility of the truck structure.

Formed as a downward and lateral extension of each of the side frames 1 and preferably cast as an integral portion of the side frame is a skid or shoe'lO adapted to overlie the rails of the track and having longitudinal edge flanges 11 on either side to hold the skid on the track when the former engages a rail, due to the derailment of any one of the truck wheels. The end of the skid or shoe is bifurcated as at 12 to straddle the wheels and the intermediate section is solid and provided with a smooth fiat face to engage the head of the rail and support the truck upon derailment of the latter or any of the wheels thereof. Preferably the intermediate section of the skid is provided 4 turn are mounted in the housings 2 in the ends of the side frames and are freely mov-. able in said housings in a downward direction, so that an axle with its associated wheels and journal boxes may be readily removed or replaced by jacking up the corresponding end of the truck.

As thus far described, it willbe noted that the truck is so constructed and arranged that the several component parts thereof may be assembled without the use of bolts .or similar attaching devices, the intermediate portions of the side frames 1 being interlocked and properly spaced by the bolster members 5 and 7, while the ends of the side frames are similarly connected by the journal boxes and the axles. The shoes or skids 10, which are preferably formed as integral parts of the side frames, are therefore held n properly spaced relation to overlie the track and support the truck on the rails in'the event of any or all of the wheels being derailed While the disposition and arrangement of the skids, as described, would be efiective in preventingthe truck wheels engaging the ties or the road-bed, with the consequent danger of wrecking the train, when a truck or any wheel thereof is derailed, it is highly desirable that the car and the train, of which it forms a cnmponent part, be brought to a stop as quickly as possible when such an accident occurs. To effect thisuresult, the truck is provided with a novel form of apparatus for operating an air valve connected with the air brake line, which apparatus is associated with each of the journal boxes of the truck, so that when any one of the wheels leaves the track and the corresponding journal box moves downward in its housing such movement will actuate the connections leading to the air valve and automatically set the brakes.

Mounted on the inner face of each side frame 1, and adjacent each journal box, is a lever 20, pivoted intermediate its ends on a 7 lug 24 on the side frame and havinga rounded projection 21 concentric with the lug 24%, which engages a concave lug 22 formed as an integral part of the side frame 1 and shoe 10 to receive the stresses imposed upon the lever 20 and prevent the lug 24 being sheared off. The outer end of the lever 20 is provided with a concave seat 23 which underlies and engages the rounded bottom of the adjacent journal box 17, so that any vertical movement of the journal box in itshousing will be transferred to the lever 20, thereby causing the latter to rock on its pivot 24. The free end of the lever 20 is provided with a notch 20, adapted to engage a vertical lug .or fin 26, which projects at right angles to the body portlon of a slide 25, which is mounted for plvotal and vertical sliding movement on a rod 29 work-- .ing in perforated lugs '28 on the outer face of the side frame 1, as shown in Figsal and 6. The upper end of the vertically pivoted and slidable member 25 is preferably provided with an arm 27. It will be noted that one of the slidable members 25 is located adjacent t-he outer edge of each of the bolster guides so that when the slide is turned to cause its fiat face to lie parallel with the outer face of the side frame, the angularly disposed lug 26 on the corresponding slide lies against the side of the bolster guide with the lower end of said lug engaging the notch 20 in the corresponding lever 20 and each slide 25'when so disposed will be raised when the free end of the lever 20 is elevated, as, for example, when the corresponding journal box 17 moves downward in its housing 2. It will be noted'also that each of the slides 25 is freely movable in a vertical direction on a rod 29, so that by elevating a given slide manually and freeing the lug 26 thereof from the notch 20 in the end of lever 20 the slide may be swung outwardly to move the lug 26 entirely out ofthe range of movement of the lever 20, so that the latter may be swung on its pivot 24 to disengage the journal box 17 when it is desired to separate an axle from the sidecframes.

Journaled in bearings 31 on the outer face of each side frame is a horizontal shaft 30, the free ends of which are bent or cranked as at 31, the cranked portions lying above and in the path of movement of the upper ends of the slides 2525 on the corresponding side frames, so that when either of the slides 25 is elevated the shaft 30 will be partly rotated in the bearings 31, against the tension of a helical spring 33, one end of which is attached to the shaft and the other engages the face of the adjacent side frame Associated with the shaft 30 is a laterally extending arm 32, which overlies and is adapted to actuate the projecting stem of an air release valve 4E0, which is connected in a branch 41 from the air-brake pipe line 42 so that moving the shaft 30 against the tension of the spring 33 will cause the finger 32 to the track by the lateral flanges 11-11 to actuate the air valve 40 and set the brakes on the car and the train.

The operation ofthe apparatus is as follows. When any one or more of the wheels of the truck leaves the track rail or rails one or both of the skids or shoes 10 immediately engages the ports the truck thereon, the skids being held As the whole or part of the weight of the truck is taken up by the shoe or shoes 10, the journal boxes 17 tend to move downward in their housings 2 in the side frames. The downward movement of the journal boxes, due to the weight of the Wheels and axles, rocks the corresponding levers 20, the outer ends of the levers being forced downwardly by the journal box and the inner or free ends being move upwardly carrying with them the slide members 25, the upper ends 27 of whichengage the corresponding cranked endsv of the horizontally journaled rod or rods '30, rocking the rods in their bearings and causing the fingers 32 thereon to engage the corresponding air valve 40, which has the effect of setting the brakes on the car to which the truck is attached, as well as the brakes on the other cars of the train, so that the car or train is quickly brought to rest before damage can be done to the derailed wheel or truck.

What I claim is:

1. A safety device for railway car trucks comprisin a unitary side frame, and a shoe or skid ormedinte ally therewith, said skid constituting a ownward and lateral extension of the side frame overlying the track rail and having lateral marginal flanges and bifurcated ends to straddle the wheels.

2. A safety device for railway car trucks comprising an integral casting including a truck side frame, and shoe or skid forming a downward lateral extension of the side frame and provided with edge flanges tov straddle the rail and bifurcated ends to straddle the wheels.

8. A safety device for railway car trucks comprising side frames having downwardly movable journal boxes, shoes or skids extending below and laterally of the side frames to overlie the rails, each shoe includin a' solid middle section and bifurcated ends to straddle the wheels, levers pivoted.

intermediate their ends to the side frames and extending beneath each journal box,

vertically pivoted sliding members secured to the side frames overlying the ends of the corresponding levers, brake valve mechanism carried by the truck and means connecting said sliding members with the brake valve mechanism to set the brakes when a journal box moves downward.

4. A safety device for railway car trucks I comprising side frames having downwardly rail-or rails and sup-' movable journal boxes, shoes or skids extending below and laterally of the side frames to overlie the rails, each shoe including a solid middle section and bifurcated ends to straddle the Wheels,- levers pivoted intermediate their ends to the side frames and extending beneath each journal box, vertically pivoted sliding members secured to the side frames, each member including a lug engaging the free end of the adjacent pivoted lever and a body section overlying the face of the side frame, horizontal rods journaled on the side frames, each rod having crank arms overlying the adjacent sliding members and a valve actuating arm, an

5. A safety device for railway car trucks comprising side frames having downwardly movable ournal boxes, shoes or skids extending below and laterally of the side frames to overlie the rails, each shoe including a solid metal section and bifurcated ends to straddle the wheels, levers pivoted intermediate their ends to the side frames and extending beneath each journal box, vertically pivoted sliding members secured to the outer faces of the side frames, each member having a lug engaging the free end of an adj acent pivoted lever, air brake valves on the side frames, and a horizontal pivoted rod on each side frame, each rod having crank arms overlying the adjacent sliding members. and an arm engaging the air valve.

6. A safety device for railway car trucks comprising side frames having downwardly moving-journal boxes, levers-pivoted intermediate their ends tothe' side frames and extending beneath each journal box, vertically pivoted sliding members secured to the side frames, each member having a lug-engaging the free end of an adjacent pivoted lever, air brake valves on the side frames, and a horizontal pivoted rod on each side frame, each rod having crank arms overlying the adjacent sliding members arm engaging. the air valve. v

7. A safety device for railway car trucks comprising side frames having downwardly moving journal boxes, levers pivoted intermediate their ends to the side frames and d an air valve connected with the air brake line cooperating witheach of said arms. 7

extending beneath each journal box, vertically pivoted sliding members secured to the side frames, each member including a lug engaging the free end of an adjacent pivoted lever and a body section overlying the face of each side frame, horizontal rods journaled on the side frames, each rod having crank arms overlying, the adjacent sliding members and a valve actuating arm, and an air valve connected with the airbrake line cooperating with each of said arms.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

CAR-LL. PITTMAN, 

